Lessons with Julian

I recently graduated the New School with degrees in jazz guitar and anthropology and I’m taking in new students. From elementary schoolers to teenagers, young adults to middle aged to seniors, I have over ten years experience teaching all ages. Growing up in LA, I moved to NYC in 2015 for university and I can answer questions about the music and recording scenes in both cities. Currently I play with different band setups around the New York area; including lead guitar in an experimental metal/rock/punk group, guitar and bass in a Cuban band with master percussionist Joaquín Pozo, guitar in an African Congolese band, and guitar in my own jazz oriented projects through various stylistic and instrumental layouts. Several times a year I return to LA and play jazz with my own various instrumentation setups around town. There I play bass in a jazz / hip hop band with Inglewood rapper Natia the God, and from April to September 2020 played guitar in a group with Jamaiel Shabaka, who previously was a member of the Sun Ra Arkestra (rest in peace). I have been awarded grants to travel, study, and perform music in West Africa and the Caribbean and know a good deal about African diasporic music styles especially in Cuba, Haiti, Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria, and Congo. On the recording side of things I’ve studied privately with several established mixing engineers including Hank Shocklee (Public Enemy), Malik Abdul Rahmaan, and Joshua Pleeter and have a professional home studio setup with great microphones and preamps, acoustically treated rooms and a plethora of musical gear, both analog and digital. I interned at Akwaaba Music in Accra, Ghana in June 2018 and worked there as an in house studio engineer and musician from September to November 2021. If you want to learn about recording and mixing I can show you the fundamentals. My day job of sorts is at a vinyl record store and I am passionate about culture and musical history. I have bought records in every place I have visited, especially in Cuba, Ghana and Sénégal. I can help you with music theory, improvisation, harmony, chordal vocabulary, etc. Maybe you play rock or are a singer/songwriter and you want to deepen your fretboard fluency or delve into jazz harmony. We will transcribe your favorite music and analyze why it’s great. Eventually I like to have my students play with a live band which I can call and facilitate. Learning music should be fun! I will meet you at whatever skill level you are at. I have zoom capabilities but prefer in person lessons. Prices are somewhat flexible; if you want to learn and affordability is the issue we’ll figure out something that works for both of us.